socioeconomic status(total) and English achievement was weak (r = 0.273), a statistically significant positive correlation was found between the two variables. It showed that significant correlation existed between parents’ socioeconomic status(total) and English achievement of the students.
Table 6: Correlation Coefficients between Parents’ SES and English Achievement (N =103) Parents' Socio
Economic Status
Parents' Education
Parents' Occupation
Parents' Income English
Achievement
.273** .342** .252* .289**
.005 .000 .010 .003
(50% 61.1%) HNWOTFP
(66.6%)
(72.2%)
137
103 103 103 103
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Correlation analysis was also carried out for the three factors of parents’ socioeconomic status (N = 103). Table 6 shows that the three factors of parents’ socioeconomic status (parents’
education, parents’ occupation, and parents’ income) had statistically significant correlations (r = 0.342, r = 0.252 and r= 0.289 respectively) with students’ English achievement. It suggested that there was a significant correlation between parents’ education and students’ English achievement, between parents’ occupation and students’ English achievement, and parents’ income and English achievement.
Based on the correlation analyses in all universities, statistically significant correlations were shown by parents’ socioeconomic status(total), the three factors of parents’ socioeconomic status (parents’ education, parents’ occupation, and parents’ Income) of the variables of parents’
socioeconomic status and its factors of the total sample (N = 103). In gaining a better understanding about the best predictor among the factors of parents’ socioeconomic status and the contribution of the best predictor of the changes on the students’ English achievement, the stepwise regression analysis procedure was carried out. The summary statistics of regression analysis is presented in Table 7.
Table 7: Summary Statistics for Predicting English Achievement from Parents’ SES
Model Dependent
Variable Predictor R R2 Adjusted R2
F Change
d f
Sig. F Change 1
(N = 103)
Four English Language Skills GPA
Parents’
Education .342 .117 .108 13.335 1 .000
The use of the stepwise regression procedure that was carried out for parents’ socioeconomic status(total) and its factors for the total sample (N=103), resulted in the inclusion of parents’
education. The result showed that parents’ education explained 11.7% of the total variance, (R² = 0.117, p < 0.01) using parents’ education. Therefore, parents’ education could predict students’
English achievement by explaining 11.7% of the changes on students’ English achievement.
Additionally, parents’ education was the best predictor of the changes on the students’ English achievement.
The students in this study generally had parents whose SES was in medium-low levels ( Table 3). This phenomenon happened due to the fact that generally mothers of the students in this current study had occupation in the level of “have never worked outside the home for pay.”
Therefore, it influenced the income of parents in which mothers did not have any income.
The results of the current study confirmed the importance of parents’ socioeconomic status and language learning strategies. Parents who had medium-high levels of SES had children who had higher score in English achievement than the students whose parents’ socioeconomic status was in medium low-low levels (Table 5). It confirmed the finding of a study conducted by Hamid (2011).
It explained that the students who come from high SES tend to have higher academic achievement compared to those who come from low SES.
Parents’ SES and its factors were significantly and positively correlated with students’
English achievement. The parents who had higher level of education, occupation, and income had higher possibility to meet their expectations of their children education. They have more experience and knowledge to support their childrens’ education, such as giving motivations, encouragements, helps, suggestions, and visions. Additionally, they had monthly income and probably had higher income that they could use to support their childrens’ educational needs, such as providing more
138 books to read at home and transferring their children to a course. In regression analyses, it was revealed that parents’ education was the best predictor of higher English achievement of the students.
5.0 CONCLUSION
In summary, parents’ SES has an important role in determining their childrens’ academic success. Parents whose SES is in medium–high levels have richer knowledge, experience, and positive view, that they gett from their working environment and from their education compared to parents whose SES is in medium low–low levels. As a result, the parents whose SES is in medium- high level are able to give positive values to their children, encourage their children to be better learners, support their children in learning, and motivate their children to be successful language learners. Therefore, the medium–high levels of parents’ SES give positive contribution to the high English achievement of their children.
This effect of parents’ SES on English achievement imply that the teachers and government should consider parents’ SES by noting the students’ personal information that includes their parents’ education, occupation, and monthly income in order to give motivation, encouragement and financial support (scholarships) to those students whose parents’ SES was in medium low–low levels.
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EQAO. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/files/2010/annex-pisa-2010.pdf Caro, D. H., & Cortés, D. (2012). Measuring family socioeconomic status: An illustration using
data from PIRLS 2006. IERI, 5, 6-33.
Efrizal, D. (2012). Improving students’ speaking through communicative language teaching method at Mts Ja-alhaq, sentot ali basa Islamic boarding school of Bengkulu, Indonesia. International Journals of Humanities and Social Science, 2(20), 153-164.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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APPENDIX
The Scale and Classification of Parents’ Occupation
No. Original categories Score
1 Has never worked outside the home for pay (HNWOTFP) 22
2
Small business owner (< 25 employees) (SBO)
Includes owners of small business such as retail shops, services, restaurants 57 3
Clerk (C)
Includes office clerks, secretaries, typists, data entry operators, customer service clerks 49
4
Service or sales worker (SSW)
Includes travel attendants, restaurant service workers, personal care workers, protective
service workers, salespersons 45
5 Skilled agricultural or fishery worker (SAFW)
Includes farmers, forestry workers, fishery workers, hunters and trappers 31 6
Craft or trade worker (CTW)
Includes builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc.; also metal workers, machine mechanics, handicraft workers
37 7 Plant or machine operator (PMO)
Includes plant and machine operators, assembly-line operators, motor-vehicle drivers 33 8
General laborers (GL)
Includes domestic helpers and cleaners; building caretakers; messengers, porters and doorkeepers; farm, fishery, agricultural, and construction workers
24
9
Corporate manager or senior official (CMSO)
Includes corporate managers such as managers of large companies (25 or more employees) or managers of departments within large companies; legislators or senior government officials; senior officials of special-interest organizations; military officers
67
10
Professional (P)
Includes scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, architects, engineers, life science and health professionals, teachers, legal professionals, social scientists, writers and artists, religious professionals
73
11
Technician or associate professional (TAP)
Includes science, engineering, and computer associates and technicians; life science and health technicians and assistants; teacher aides; finance and sales associate professionals;
business service agents; administrative assistants
52
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Need For a Career-Oriented Undergraduate English Curriculum in Bangladesh: An Analysis
Obaid Wali
Institute of Bangladesh Studies, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh obaid_wali2003@yahoo.com
KEYWORDS: Curriculum, Learner, Skill, Development, Stakeholder ABSTRACT
Providing knowledge and skill to all learners is one of the goals of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and an updated curriculum can play a vital role in achieving that goal in Bangladesh. The National Education Policy 2010 of Bangladesh places much emphasis on skill development through a modernized education. Curriculum, the blueprint of any education system, is expected to uphold the expectations of teachers, students and job providers. With rapid development in each sector, we can hope for unprecedented development in English curriculum at an undergraduate level. Earlier, studying English only meant the study of literature. This focus has shifted to include the study of language teaching because of market demand, though which literature dominates. Now English graduates are opting for a variety of professions including teaching and civil services. At present there is no standard undergraduate English curriculum in Bangladesh. The existing curriculum is incomplete and literature-oriented. English curricula at public and private universities are not adequate to meet the demands of the job market as opined by the country’s leading educationists.
As such, it is easily perceivable that existing English curriculum needs to be redesigned into a skill- based and job-oriented curriculum, is a much sought-after. This study focuses on the drawbacks of the existing undergraduate English curriculum and establishes the rationales for a reformed curriculum that slants towards learner-centered and career-oriented approaches. The findings of the study will be of immense importance to policy makers and curriculum planners at tertiary level based on the analysis of documents and in-depth interviews.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Let us have a look at a case study taken from a social networking site.
“A female student with good academic standing got admitted into X University’s English department in Bangladesh, a department of her dream. On the very first day at her campus when she got the syllabus and saw the contents…she cried out inwardly. A girl of this super fast generation will study ‘old English literature- Bewoulf, 16th Century poetry, Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy or Greek Myth!!!! while her friends in private universities are studying EEE, BBA or English (TESOL major). Next year she left that university and got admitted into another university for studying BBA.”
Tertiary education plays a vital role in developing the future generation of a country and inculcating moral, humanitarian, cultural, social values and promoting students’ knowledge and skills. English language skills can prepare them for the socio-economic development of a nation. If we look at our university English education and curriculum, it seems that the present English curriculum has not been fully developed and not properly designed to attain its goals and so “the curriculum should be overhauled every now and then” (Alam, 2005).
Majority of our graduates are not competent enough in English. They lack the required level of competence for job competition at the global level and, therefore, are disadvantaged in the job market. It is very essential to re-examine the different factors responsible for students’ poor level of proficiency in English. Among other factors, curriculum renewal, in a broader sense, is essential. A
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curriculum that is helpful for skill development is necessary. It is therefore essential to examine our existing curriculum (if any) to see its limitations and strengths in order to make revision or improvement in the curriculum. Other factors such as ELT materials, teaching-learning and testing are important for changing the scenario.
For producing competent graduates, a skill-based, job-focused and morality-driven curriculum is required. A curriculum which combines knowledge as well as skill is a sought-after requirement by employers today. For such curriculum, developing curriculum in line with curriculum theories is essential. English departments in universities in Bangladesh are in dire need of such learner-centered curriculum which will juxtapose knowledge, skill and morality in producing skilled human resources. That is why an evaluation of existing English curriculum is a pressing need and a situation analysis is a pre-condition before revamping the curriculum. This study focuses on situation analysis and highlights the needs of undergoing a massive change in undergraduate English course designs.